​
There could be trouble brewing for Steve Komphela at Kaizer Chiefs if results don’t improve after the international break, with the club reportedly considering his future.

Kaizer Chiefs’ opening two games, against Bidvest Wits in the Absa Premiership and Cape Town City in the MTN8, saw their poor run of form stretch to just one win in 15 games in all competitions, and there seems to be growing concerns about Komphela’s position.

While the club have publicly backed their head coach for the future despite the results, it is thought that there have been discussions about a replacement should things not improve drastically.

As reported in this week’s issue of Soccer Laduma, Chiefs’ management are organising talks with Komphela – possibly over the international break – to discuss the way forward, with a vote of no confidence possibly on the cards if things don’t get better.

Meanwhile, public opinion on Komphela’s reign seems to be split as the fans wait for their first victory since April, with some believing he needs to be shown the door and others saying that he needs more time.

Source: http://www.soccerladuma.co.za

BY REGINALD KANYANE

SOUTH African deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has said the number of underage girls who have children in Ratlou local municipality is far less than 3000. Ramaphosa said this while answering questions from opposition parties in parliament yesterday.

“The number has been sensationalised. The investigations are underway and we expect to deal with that matter decisively. We need to fight this tendency of blessers or sugar daddies. The situation is stirred by poverty and unemployment. We need to empower those young girls and ensure that they return to school,” he said.

ANCYL called for remedial action after 3000 underage girls were impregnated. ANCYL spokesperson, Mlondi Mkhize said the discovery was shocking.

“Some of these girls have had to drop out of school. These young girls have been forced into motherhood against their will. It is clear that they are still minors with their entire lives ahead of them. Even more shocking is that among these young girls, there is a 12-year-old who gave birth to a baby boy 6 months ago.

“It has always been our firmly held view, through the words of our forebears that a nation that does not take care of its youth does not deserve its future. This is more disgusting because the assessment by the Ministry of Social Development indicates that the culprits are older men that exploit the innocent young girls,” he said.

Mkhize added that older men had unprotected sex with underage girls and some going to the extent of being raped.

“It is only a sick society that harbours such acts of exploiting innocent young girls into having unprotected sex with them. The young girls fear for their well-being if they refuse. The buck also stops decisively on the doorstep of irresponsible parenting to allow the future of so many young girls to be taken away so brutally.

“It is our firmly held view that fathers must become responsible men. They must not open up young women to sexual exploitation. We equally call on mothers and sisters to stand strong in the fight against sexual abuse of young girls. No young girl asks to be sexually abused. We must be the first line of defense in protecting young girls because of their economic vulnerability and social exclusion,” Mkhize added.

He said they will have a meeting with minister of police to discuss this issue. Mkhize further added that they want to lobby the ministry to set up a task team to hunt down these elderly people who impregnated these young girls.

“We view this act as a criminal act that needs decisive action from government. We cannot have a Boko Haram-like situation unchecked haphazardly in our country. This gruesome act must be combated with the full might of the law,” he said.

North West social development spokesperson, Petrus Siko said the will bring intervention at the area.

“We will open rape cases against perpetrators and provide counselling to those affected teenagers. We will also build an early childhood development centre and make sure those girls return to school,” Siko said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

https://youtu.be/OsrlgJkmd84

https://youtu.be/2tkqWMVxLCc

BY REGINALD KANYANE

NORTH West premier Supra Mahumapelo addressed the media on the outcomes of Bokone Bophirima EXCO Lekgotla meeting that took place on Wednesday Thursday at Cook Lake in Mahikeng.

Mahumapelo said they have made an assessment of the Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal efforts in the Province.

“This is a gathering that is constituted by the Premier, MECs, HODs, Mayors and Municipal Managers and CEOs of State Owned Entities. After a thorough assessment of the implementation of the 5 concretes, the EXCO Lekgotla appreciated work done to date.

“We have taken several decisive decisions that are intended at taking Bokone Bophirima forward. We have reached an agreement with Eskom to roll out prepaid electricity meters with special focus in farming areas and should work with municipalities,” he said.

He further said Eskom noted and appreciated the processes initiated by the provincial government to commence the policy process to make it illegal to erect an informal dwelling (shack), without pre-approval from the municipality.

Mahumapelo added that the Environmental Impact Assessment studies should assist in this regard.

“Before the end of 2016/17 financial year, Eskom should align its planning and execution with VTSD. The Lekgotla resolved that by November 2016, the province should have 864 Village People’s Chambers of Commerce, 73 Township People’s Chambers of Commerce and 23 Small Dorpies People’s Chambers of Commerce.

“The provincial government will explore the possibility of encouraging individuals to contribute R1 (one rand) towards the Kgetsi ya Tsie (KYT) Bursary and Skills Development Fund. The bursary scheme will be collected from every electricity and water purchase/payment made,” he said.

North West premier said, however public opinion will be sought on the matter.

He said in order to ensure a lasting solution to challenges associated with water tankering, the Lekgotla resolved that they should gradually migrate from tankering to the borehole system. Mahumapelo said government will in this regard work out a plan to provide subsidies for struggling farmers.

“The department of Water and Sanitation in conjunction with Local Government and Human Settlements will decide which municipalities should be assisted to roll out the prepaid system for water. A Provincial Integrated Consequence Management regime will be introduced for all municipalities and departments to ensure it is comprehensively attended.

“To effectively deal with silo operations in government, the Lekgotla resolved that the Provincial Planning Commission will ensure that the integration of Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and VTSD Plans are incorporated into Annual Performance Plans,” Mahumapelo said.

He said ICT architecture of the provincial departments and municipalities will be synergized to ensure seamless communication and to avoid duplication of services and wastage of resources. Mahumapelo added that the province should commence with a phased in approach of Wi-Fi implementation in VTSD areas.

“The province will work with the National Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, to roll out fibre optic. The Lekgotla also resolved that municipalities should place more effort on their MIG spending. Public servants from provincial departments will be deployed to assist municipalities,” he said. Premier Mahumapelo further said Organizational Development (OD) Specialists will be deployed in municipalities to assist with normalization of municipalities’ bloated structures. He said committees of Councils should correspond with provincial departments.

“The committee will deal with for example, Public Works and Roads issues at municipal level, such as, each ward having a warehouse for pothole filling material. The Lekgotla also received progress report on work done so far to rationalise some of the State Owned Entities and for the establishment of PEGA. “They accordingly appreciated progress registered. It resolved that all matters relating to liabilities and assets of entities that are being rationalised should be concluded. As per the Premier’s pronouncement in the 2015 SOPA, the provincial government continues to receive and deal with reported cases.

“The Lekgotla noted that so far, a total of 445 cases have been reported. Of this total, 400 have been dealt with and closed, whilst the outstanding 45 cases are still being processed. The EXCO Lekgotla appreciated the positive response by Members of Executive Council, who this week on Tuesday morning, took calls from members of the public through the Setsokotsane Operation Centre,” Mahumapelo said.

He added that MECs responded to service delivery issues raised through Setsokotsane Operation Centre. Mahumapelo said the Lekgotla also noted that this public engagement method will be embarked upon every second Wednesday of each month.

“This initiative is a view to bridge the communication gap between the provincial leaders and the communities. While at the same time accelerates service delivery to the people of the province. The EXCO Lekgotla also welcomed the resolve to reduce the duration of its sittings from the usual 3-days to a day. This is as part of the provincial leadership’s effort to do further cost-saving. The Renewal, Healing and Reconciliation Unit that is located in the Office of the Premier, will in working together with the traditional leaders and healers, churches and the department of Social Development, soon embark on a vigorous programme that seeks to deal with the evident moral decay amongst especially the young people in the province.

“Department of Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs (CATA) in Bokone Bophirima in partnership with North West Development Corporation (NWDC), will officially launch Heritage month on September 3 at Lotlamoreng dam,” he said.

Mahumapelo further said this year’s theme is “Human Treasures and Legends: Our Living Heritage”. 

“It is about honouring and celebrating our Living Human Treasures from various disciplines such as heritage, museology, indigenous knowledge systems, storytelling, knowledge of the natural environment and many other aspects of life,” he added.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

https://youtu.be/GObfWF5Yggc

BY REGINALD KANYANE

ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters provincial chairperson Betty Diale was left with an egg on her face after the North West provincial legislature deputy speaker, Jane Manganye forced her to retract her R3m bribery claim.

ANC North West provincial Legislature Chief Whip, Hoffman Galeng also lambasted the manner in EFF provincial chairperson, Betty Diale conducted herself during the legislative sitting on last week Tuesday.

Diale alleged that ANC won Rustenburg local municipality after possibly bribing small parties to get their votes.

“ANC did not win Rustenburg local municipality on its own. They needed assistance of smaller parties to win. There was a missing R3m from Rustenburg local municipality, and it was possibly used to bribe people,” Diale said.

Diale was tricked by Portfolio committee member statement, Motlalepula Rosho when she said ANC won all local municipalities in the province including Rustenburg.

However, chair of chairs, Itumeleng Mosala who was the presiding officer requested Diale to retract her statement or provide substantial evidence to support her derogatory statement.

She said she was certain about what she said and cannot degrade herself by making false statement. Diale also added that she will bring prove in the next sitting to support her statement.

However, Diale failed to submit evidence to support her statement during House Sitting on Tuesday. North West provincial legislature deputy speaker, Jane Manganye said Diale failed to submit her evidence to back-up her claims.

“We will request EFF member of legislature, Betty Diale to retract her statement because she has not submitted her substantial evidence to support her statement,” she said.

Diale said: “I will retract my statement pending investigations on the matter. The investigations are underway from our side as EFF.”

Galeng said members should refrain from making such derogatory statements.

“It is tantamount for political leaders to mislead the house without substantial evidence. We cannot make careless statements. The public has now developed a keen interest on the matter, but now there is no evidence.

“We will never bribe people as the ruling party. We have won all municipalities across the province fair and square. We will also take steps as the ruling party because the statement is serious allegations,” he said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

aka

The famous South African rapper has reportedly been in talks with Mabala Noise and is due to sign a contract by the end of this week. 

It is alleged that the talks have been going on for some time and so far it has only been verbal agreements as Vth season and Mabala Noise have been in discussions over the amount to buy him out of his current contract

However, AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes has rubbished these claims when DRUM spoke to him.

He said he was very happy with his current recording label and he has no intention of leaving his current recording label, Vth Season.

“This is nothing but a rumor,” he said.

He further added that people went as far as saying that he will receive R20 million from Mabala Noise and this was news to him.

“Every week there is always something on the news about AKA, it’s just part of the territory,” says AKA.

The recording label owned by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL)  national treasurer, Reggie Nkabinde made headlines last month, after Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema claimed that its artists were paid R5 million each.

Source: http://www.drum.co.za

The African National Congress Youth League calls for immediate intervention at Ratlou local municipality after 3000 girls underage were found to be pregnant.

ANCYL spokesperson, Mlondi Mkhize said the discovery was shocking. Mkhize further said some of these girls have had to drop out of school.

“These young girls have been forced into motherhood against their will. It is clear that they are still minors with their entire lives ahead of them. Even more shocking is that among these young girls, there is a 12-year-old who gave birth to a baby boy 6 months ago.

“It has always been our firmly held view, through the words of our forebears that a nation that does not take care of its youth does not deserve its future. This is more disgusting because the assessment by the Ministry of Social Development indicates that the culprits are older men that exploit the innocent young girls,” he said.

Mkhize added that older men had unprotected sex with underage girls and some going to the extent of being raped.

“It is only a sick society that harbours such acts of exploiting innocent young girls into having unprotected sex with them. The young girls fear for their well-being if they refuse. The buck also stops decisively on the doorstep of irresponsible parenting to allow the future of so many young girls to be taken away so brutally.

“It is our firmly held view that fathers must become responsible men. They must not open up young women to sexual exploitation. We equally call on mothers and sisters to stand strong in the fight against sexual abuse of young girls. No young girl asks to be sexually abused. We must be the first line of defense in protecting young girls because of their economic vulnerability and social exclusion,” he added.

Mkhize said they will have a meeting with minister of police to discuss this issue. He said they want to lobby the ministry to set up a task team to hunt down these elderly people who impregnated these young girls.

“We view this act as a criminal act that needs decisive action from government. We cannot have a Boko Haram-like situation unchecked haphazardly in our country. This gruesome act must be combated with the full might of the law.

North West social development spokesperson, Petrus Siko said the will bring intervention at the area.

“We will open rape cases against perpetrators and provide counselling to those affected teenagers. We will also build an early childhood development centre and make sure those girls return to school,” Siko said.

Deputy Minister, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu visited the area to address social-economic issues affecting the broader society. They were profiling 14 areas when they came across this issue.

More than 3000 underage girls were identified as mothers and it is alleged that they were impregnated by older men.

“We have 3000 underage girls impregnated out of 100 000 populations. We are not talking about those who are pregnant, but those who have children already. Some of them have two children at the age of 18. It clearly shows that there are some challenges that need to be addressed in this area.”

The presidency office also lambasted the perpetrators. The presidency representative, Bongani Khumalo said necessary actions must be taken.

“What we talking here is that children as young as 12 and 13 have children. It clearly says to us that people who impregnated these girls are actually guilty of statutory rape and must be charged,” Khumalo said.

North West police commissioner, Baile Motswenyane led the police task team for investigations. Motswenyane said they waiting for cases to be sent to the prosecutors to decide on any arrests.

“We have already opened dockets against suspects and we have sent them to prosecution directive in court. The matter will be decided by DPP for decision,” she said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

​

The Nigerian military on Thursday confirmed the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, Daily Post reports.

According to Major General Lucky Irabor, Commander of the Army’s Operation Lafiya Dole, the individual originally identified as Shekau had been killed, despite claims suggested that a second man bearing the same name was injured during air strikes just a few days prior.

A report released by The Sun early this week revealed that a man believed to be Shekau had been fatally injured following an airstrike conducted by security officials.

The airstrike, described as “spectacular”, was alleged to have claimed the lives of 300 Boko Haram militants hiding out in the northern areas of the west African state.

Videos 

“I can confirm to you that the original Shekau was killed, the second Shekau was killed, and the man presenting himself as Shekau, I can also confirm to you that few days ago, he was wounded. We are yet to confirm whether he is dead or not,” Irabor was quoted as saying.

Irabor’s claims marked the latest in a series of announcements relating to the death of the Boko Haram leader, all of which have been proven false due to his re-emergence in videos released by the Islamist sect.

The Nigerian army insisted that Shekau had finally been killed.

The army maintained that it did not make announcements that were not based on facts.

Since his emergence in 2009, Shekau has been declared dead on several occasions, although the Nigerian army never solidly confirmed the claims, Naij reports.

Shekau took over as leader of the group after its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was paraded before being executed in front of a crowd by army operatives.

Under his leadership, Boko Haram has slain thousands of civilians, while displacing over 2 million.

Source: http://www.news24.com

​

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillors undressed in public yesterday after they were told they could not enter the Mahikeng local council sitting wearing their party’s regalia.

Council speaker Pontsho Tabane said EFF councillors had to be locked out of the council sitting because they failed to obey the standing rules and orders of the council.

Tabane said the rules of the chamber were that female councillors must wear formal dress and male councillors a tie and jacket.

Council rules also require that councillors not wear canvas shoes, political party-promoting attire, hats and caps, and that their hair must always be combed .

All 12 EFF councillors arrived wearing their red regalia but were blocked by security guards who told them they were not allowed to enter the chamber.

The councillors argued that their regalia could be defined as formal dress. The women were wearing red dresses, while their male counterparts were wearing overalls with formal shoes and red and white shirts and ties.

Security guards had to push them out of the building after female members undressed and left wearing only their underwear.

“Okay, we will take off our clothes then. Just let us in, the council sitting is about to start,” the group said.

EFF regional secretary Neo Moroeng said the council would have to allow them to wear their regalia or they would take the matter to court.

“We are opening a case of harassment and assault with the police. Some of our female members were manhandled and touched on their breasts,” said Moroeng.

EFF council member Ouma Nkitsing said she felt insulted. “They cannot come and impose English laws on us. They could not even define the formal dress code,” she said.

She said after losing the battle with the bouncers, they decided to undress. “We felt that they will accept us if we wear our natural selves which is our best suits,” she said.

Nkitsing said she was unemployed before becoming a councillor and could not afford new clothes. “I cannot afford their expensive suits that their laws want us to wear, so wearing nothing is the cheapest clothes that I can wear.”

Another EFF councillor, Tumelo Phinda, said African women were not ashamed of their naked bodies. “In my tradition, women are allowed to wear Makgabe [traditional skirts with strings and beads] so I did not feel that there was something wrong to strip naked. It was also a form of expressing my disappointment with this council.

“I was voted by the public to represent them in council but I was denied my right to do so,” she said.

Phinda was one of the women allegedly manhandled. “The bouncer touched my bums and breasts. I felt cheap and disrespected. One of them held me between his legs while I was picking up my doek.” Yesterday she was nursing an injury on her right arm as a result of the fracas.

National EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee said it was unlawful for the council to deny entry to his party’s members. “They were just wearing red overalls and domestic workers’ uniform dresses without an emblem – that cannot be considered as party regalia,” Gardee said.

He said ANC councillors would fail if they tried to enforce a dress code. “That is the colonial decorum of white supremacy. It means they are saying workers’ clothes are not clothes. It is a demonstration of total disdain for workers.”

He said ANC councillors must focus on better things like service delivery rather than spending time on who is wearing what.

Tabane said the rules had to be applied. He said he held a meeting on Monday with the caucus of the EFF where he explained in detail the standing rules and orders of the council. He said EFF councillors had agreed that they would comply.”If the EFF members wanted to amend the rules they could do so using the appropriate procedures since they were the official opposition party, he said. “They can bring in a motion. Today they are grand-standing – we cannot allow that. They must respect the decorum of the house and the laws of this country. We cannot allow anarchy to prevail, that will eat up our democracy,” said Tabane.

“They do not make any impact. Out of 70 council members, ANC has 43. We can run the council without them, we don’t want to use our majority arrogance, we want to co-operate. But if they do not want to co-operate then we will show them that we are the ANC-led municipality.”

Source: http://www.sowetanlive.co.za